Art Exhibit

The art exhibit that I attended this semester was an installation on Alcatraz Island called "TELLING OUR STORIES: The San Quentin Prison Arts Project". The project brings art workshops to inmates (including painting, print-making, drawing, theater, etc.) to act as a form of self-expression, which isn't a trait commonly found in the overcrowded prison system. It was really cool to see all the artwork made by prisoners and hung professionally; a lot of it was super impressive.

The idea that art is rehabilitating is quite interesting and the emotions conveyed through the artwork in the cramped gallery space (literally inside of the infamous prison) were powerful alongside the bars on the dirty windows and chipping concrete. The images covered topics like race and ethnic history, life in the prison system, and even gorgeous landscapes. Overall, the show was shocking and pretty enlightening because you don't really connect great screen-prints and beautiful paintings with people behind bars.

For more information:

http://williamjamesassociation.org/prison_arts/

http://williamjamesassociation.org/telling-our-stories-work-from-san-quentin-prison-arts-project/

Lecture Two

Gregg Schlanger is an artist who focuses on public art installations and the environment. He incorporates big themes like water consumption and endangered species with more natural elements like glass and water in order to convey his themes—water consumption/transportation and fishing are some of his favorite topics. Schlanger was also very personable and down-to-earth about his artwork and lecture, so it was easy to follow and engaging.

Schlanger uses art in order to convey some type of message or raise awareness about an issue (mostly environmental), but he does it in a way that is informative and artistic, rather than exploitative or shocking. He spends a lot of time collaborating with college students, which again furthers his message by educating even more people about his concepts. Out of all the artist lectures, Erin and I both agreed that Schlanger was by far the most relatable and interesting.

Lecture One

Erika Harrsch is a “visual artist” who uses a large variety of mediums (painting, digital media, audio, video, photography, performance art, etc.) in order to convey themes of nature, politics, immigration, and gender in her artwork. She collaborates closely with other artists, musicians, and even researchers in order to execute her pieces, which range from butterflies and currency, to an LED cello and gallery installations.

Harrsch spoke very passionately about her work and that passion is apparent in her meticulously hand-crafted artwork—I would probably never even want to look at another butterfly if I was her. She is truly an artist and even though some of her work and very elaborate concepts aren’t my style, her determination is commendable and the way she is able to articulate her ideas by using art is very clear and impressive. Since we have been given themes and topics to work with all year, it was interesting to see how Harrsch took it one step further, building upon her old projects and using consistent imagery throughout her career as an artist.